Only a quarter of our software is stolen.

Three-quarters of the software used here, shows a study by industry lobby BSA is legal. The damages are still in the billions, although Germany's PC users veritable model boys are: The global Klau average is 41 percent.

 

Munich - More than a quarter in Germany, used computer programs are pirated, claims
the current study, piracy of software industry lobby BSA. 27 percent of the software were here last year was illegal copies, said the industry organization Business Software Alliance (BSA) on Tuesday in Munich. This software corresponds to the value of 1.55 billion euros, a slight increase from 154 million euros the previous year. The percentage, however, remained unchanged.

BSA Study 2008: The clause rate decreases in most countries, earnings still rising

This includes German computer users, however, in comparison to the global law-abiding most. Only in eleven countries, the proportion of illegal software is reported to be lower. The piracy rate is therefore the world at 41 percent. The revenue of the industry last year rose by around ten per cent to a total of 53 billion U.S. dollars (almost 40 billion euros).

The highest was the piracy rate in Latin America with 65 percent, followed by Asia with 61 percent. In the EU the most proportionally circulate pirated copies in Greece (57 percent), Cyprus (50 percent) and Italy (48 percent). In the U.S. and Japan are the rates, both with around 20 percent the lowest.

The organization expects that by the spread of the Internet, especially in emerging countries, the share of pirated products will increase, because then more people could illegally download programs.

The estimated loss of earnings of such studies include every pirated copy installed as lost sales. They are maximum estimates, because the computer users are an alternative to piracy and legitimate free programs, such as the open source scene is available. The fact that the pirated copy ratio in Germany is lower than international, could also be encouraged to ensure that such alternatives in Germany much more than can be used. For example, Open Office software, with which Microsoft's Office package to replace it, now shares up 15 percent believed.

However, there is a fall in the piracy rate in the general trend: From 110 surveyed countries, reports the BSA, 57 were a decrease in piracy rates reported, only 16 an increase. As the global market for PCs and software, but in the fast-growing countries with high piracy rates shift, have shifted the global share of pirated programs yet to 41 percent.

The BSA is an association of companies in the software industry, which aims to fight against piracy is. For the survey data from 110 countries evaluated.